is it possisble to reverse the direction of my PFD 88 flail mower ?

[8404]

I hate the way my flail mower is cutting when traveling forwards. it leaves the grass looking maingled and ruf like someone with a weedeater tried cutting too tall of grass. but when i cut backing up its like a finish mower nice smooth and level. I changed the blades from a y type to the single peice to get extra vacume under the cutter but it didnt help. I realy need to change the direction the rottor spins to make this thing cut the way i want it to.
I wonder if there is a ring gear that can be chainged to reverse the gear box??





new blades that didnt help cut better. these blades create doun draft that just blows the grass down rather than stand it up for a clean cut.

 

[Bill Hoffman]

Are you sure you have the blades heading in the correct direction?
From your photo they appear to be on backwards.

 

[BukitCase]

Not familiar with that mower - what's the make/model, and does your rotor move TOWARD or AWAY from your tractor at the bottom?

Mine's a Caroni, and it turns TOWARD the tractor at the lower part of the rotor. Those knives would be backward on mine... Steve

Oh, and it wouldn't be easy (if even possible) to reverse it without having enough room to move your belt tensioner to the other side of the pulley setup.

 

[sodamo]

Are you sure you have the blades heading in the correct direction?
From your photo they appear to be on backwards.

That was my impression also, but I don't know direction of rotation.

Just a thought, but maybe reverse the blades on one, say 3 hangers wide all around and do a test cut.
David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[8404]

this Flail mower is one sold by Everythingattatchment.com sells.This model is now discontinued i wonder why?

This flail rotates away from the tractor on the bottom side and i want to make it rotate towards the tractor to get a clean cut. like your Coroni does.

if i could figure out how the gears box works. i can use a machine shop to move the tensioner to the other side.

This mower is not old enough to consider just getting a new one and lose my investment something got to be posisble to make it cut correctly.

 

[Arc weld]

If your cutting grass, don't know why you'd take the Y blades off:confused3: A flail doesn't work the same as a rotary. I would suspect the blades are on backwards as well but the bigger question is where is the rear roller? It would so easy to scalp or bend the rotor shaft on a mound the way you have it. Even with the tail wheels, you still need the rear roller. That's how you set the height of cut.

 

[aczlan]

Have you actually observed the direction of the flail rotation?
How are the belts arranged on the end (picture)? Am I correct on assuming that both the drive and driven pullies are inside the belt? If so, it doesn't matter where the tensioner is, both pullies will rotate in the same direction.
If so, I am fairly certain that the flail rotates toward the tractor on the bottom. I think this for a couple of reasons:
1. Most gearboxes are setup the same way (as seen in my edited version of your Y knife picture with what I suspect are your rotation directions) as that way they only need 2 bearings. To do otherwise would require at least 3 bearings:

2. Was the hammer knife picture before or after you tried it? Is there still paint on the back (convex) side of those hammers, or just on the front (concave) side? If the paint is missing from the back, but not the front, they are on backward.

Aaron Z

 

[8404]

Yes ive visually seen the direction of rotation. its spins the same direction as the tires of the tractor. IM going to put the roller back on and leave it in the full up positon.

 

[J_J]

I believe the cut should be from the bottom up and over the rotor.

However, my flail is hyd driven and I can change the hyd motor direction by reversing the flow.

This is an excerpt from a NEW HOLLAND 918H

Rotor Direction Can Be Reversed for mulching. Forward rotation of the rotor knives (same direction as the tractor tires) lifts the grass for even cutting. Reversing the rotors allows for thorough mulching of the clippings and throws them to the rear where they are evenly distributed.

LandPride

With the FM21 Series rotor working in the opposite direction of travel, the cut grass is brought up and over the rotor.

 

[aczlan]

Looking, it appears that that what you have is called reverse rotation and it is common on crop shredding flails. See page 135 of http://www.alamo-industrial.com/ProductManuals/Manuals/85_803211c_shd_ops_pub__03-09.pdf or ROW CROP SHREDDERS | Rhino
Might call Everything Attachments and see if there is a kit available to reverse rotation.
Almo has the following to say about reversing rotation:

Changing to Forward or Reverse Rotation
To change direction of cuttershaft rotation, three left hand parts are required. A belt guard, an outboard bearing
plate and a idler pulley arm. (Consult parts list for these part numbers). Remove the cuttershaft and turn 180°.
Remove the gearbox cuttershaft drive pulley and outboard bearing plate, (using the proper bearing plate)
mount the plate to opposite side mower housing. Remove the four bolts that mount the gearbox and rotate
gearbox 180° to new position. Install cuttershaft pulley, gearbox output pulley, idler arm pulley assembly, and
belt. REPLACE EXISTING BELT GUARD WITH PROPER GUARD.

Aaron Z